Improvement in monuments



m. A} RICHARDSON.

Monuments. I 910,158,866, Pmmdnmwan.

WITTNESSES V INVENTOR fw M 0% ATTORNEYS UNI ED- STATES PATENT Orrron.

MILO A. RICHARDSON, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN MONUMENTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 158,866, dated January 19, 1875; application filed October 31, 1874.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, MILO A. RIoHARDsoN,

of Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and 2, 3, 4, and 5 are sectional detail views of the same, and Fig. 6 is a detail.

' This invention has relation to improvements in that class of metallic sectional monuments for which Letters Patent of the United States were granted to me bearing date on March 3, 1874, and numbered 148,245; and the nature of the invention and improvement consists in casting each section with a flange extending from the top to the bottomof both of its vertical edges, whereby the discrepancy in size resulting from the impossibility of casting both sections exactly alike is rendered unnoticeable, and the disfiguring effects of such discrepancy remedied when the two sections are united and the flanges planed down or filed evenly, and whereby a neat, close union of the two parts is obtained. It also consists in a tablet which is applied to one or both of the sections of my improved monument, over an aperture made therein for the purpose, by means of bolts passing through the sections and tablet into springs rigidly secured to the inner surfaces of the said sections, and held in place by a nut upon the end of the said bolts, whereby the freezing of water between the former and the latter will not loosen and finally break off the said tablet, owing to the yieldin gof the said springs. It furthermore consists in combiningwith a flame containing a portrait or relic of the deceased, rigidly secured to one or both sections, a vertically-vibrating hinged cover therefor, having a flange upon its upper horizontal edge, fitting into a corresponding recess in a water shed or table, whereby the penetration of water into the frame is prevented and the contents of the frame preserved from injury.

In the annexed drawings, A B represent the two parts or vertical sections of my improved monument, which are preferably of zinc, and are cast with flanges a upon their vertical edges, as seen in Fig. 2.

It is well known to those skilled in casting metals in molds that it is nearly impossible to make two parts or halves of any casting of exactly the same size. The molder will not always pack the sand in each mold the same. His patterns will differ in some slight degree, the heat used for melting the metal will sometimes be more intense than at others, and the metal may have been already melted before, all of which circumstances will have a tendency to prevent the two sections coming out of the mold exactly alike.

In practice, the sections, when joined together, have been found to present the appearance shown in Fig. 2that is to say, that in cooling the one will have shrunk more than the other hence the sections will not fit, and

the neat finished appearance presented in Fig.

3. The two sections are united by means of rivets passing through the flanges a, and by means of L] shaped couplings G, into the legs of which re passed, through perforations therein, screwthreaded projections b of the sections, upon which are applied suitable nuts 0, as shown in Fig. 1, for the purpose of completing their union. They are also attached in any suitable manner to a base or pedestal, D. E designates two rectangular frames, having eyes e, by means of which the screws 01 and the nuts d are removably applied to each end of the base D of the monument. These frames or anchors are buried in the ground, and are there held by means of stones or other heavy substances, and are constructed detachably for the purpose of permitting the monument to be removed for the purpose of repairing it without disturbing the sods or flowers growing upon the grave. F designates a tablet, which is applied over an aperture, f, of one or both sections by means of screws 0,

which, passing through the tablet and. wall of 1 the section, are screwed into springs S, arranged at each end of the said aperture.

It being almost impossible to prevent water from penetrating and freezing in between the tablet and the monument, whereby the former would be greatly loosened and finally broken off, I have devised the above spring, which, by yielding under the expansive force of freezing water, will relieve the tablet of strain, and thereby enable me to use porcelain, glass, or other like fragile materials in the construction of the tablets.

G designates a metallic frame, within which is secured a portrait or other relic'of a deceased person, rigidly screwed to the upper part of the. monument, as shown in Fig. 1; and H is an overhanging water-shed, to which is hinged, so as to vibrate vertically, a cover or lid, I, for the frame. This lid has a projecting flange, h, upon its upper horizontal edge, which is received, when the said lid is closed, into a recess, 9, of the watershed, thus preventing water from penetrating into the frame and injuring its contents. It is also locked by a snap-catch, i, not visible when the lid is closed, requiring a peculiarly-shaped tool, T, having a flat sharp edge, (shown in Fig. 4,) to unlock it, which, when it is inserted in the crack between the lid and monument,

will, by forcing in the catch, allow the lid to be swung open. In this manner the portrait is protected from the gaze of curious and uninterested persons, and also from accidental. or wanton injury.

What I claim as new is-- 1. In a monument or tomb-marker, the vertical sectional parts A B, having broad flanges a upon'their edges, for the purpose of renderin g unnoticeable the discrepancy in size of the two sections, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, with the portrait-frame G, of the fixed water-shed H, having recess g, and the hinged lid I, having flange h, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. The combination, with the tablet F, of the springs S and screw-bolts c, substantially as specified.

4.. The combination, with the sections A B, of the screw-threaded projections c and L!- shaped link 0, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the above I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

MILO A. RICHARDSON.

Witnesses:

L. B. VAILL, ISAAC HURD. 

